Palm Street No. 521A.
In the living room.
Anya was sitting on the sofa, leaning forward, her eyes unblinking as she watched Hawk sitting next to her.
Hawk smiled at Anya while narrating events from another universe.
He spoke in great detail.
Just as Anya had just said, time was the least of their concerns now.
Since five years ago, when Thanos snapped his fingers, causing the Annihilation, Earth's development seemed to come to a standstill. Even now, Earth hasn't recovered from the Annihilation.
If not for the surviving members of The Avengers holding things together, the whole world might have already turned into chaos.
But it's almost like that already.
Except for the countries with the Five Great Dominators, most nations are in turmoil.
Even in the Federation, let's just say, if someone gets killed in broad daylight, as long as you're not caught on the spot, there's a high chance no one will investigate you.
Earth seems to have fallen into a haze.
Apart from a small portion still struggling to hold on, most people have fallen into a state of just getting by.
Even Iron Man, Tony Stark, has already retired, putting away his sword and shield.
So...
Compared to before the Annihilation, when time was considered the most precious thing, now, time is the least valuable.
Hawk narrated the story of his own universe in detail.
Anya listened quietly.
Upon hearing that she had unfortunately died in the 2008 battle between Hulk and Abomination, she frowned slightly.
When she heard that Hawk had stormed into Hell and snatched back her soul from the Lord of Dimensions, Mephisto, her eyes shimmered.
Then, on hearing that Hawk discovered the truth about their parents' abandonment and reunited with them in another universe, she pursed her lips.
Time ticked by.
When Hawk finished speaking, Anya stared intently at him, a hint of invisible sadness flickering in her eyes.
"So, you're not my brother, are you?"
"No."
Hawk smiled warmly at Anya, "I am your brother, no matter which universe, you are always my sister, Anya Phoenix."
Anya pressed her lips together, watching Hawk.
"But you're not my universe's brother."
"Heh."
Hawk shook his head with a laugh, then extended his right hand toward Anya.
Anya looked at the hand extended toward her and then at Hawk's eyes. After a moment of silence, she placed her palm in his.
The next moment.
Bang!
Above the Time Galaxy.
"Holy crab!"
Anya felt a blur and then saw the galaxy-like surroundings, exclaiming as she glanced at the flickering segments in the Time Galaxy.
There were fragments of the past from Hawk's universe, as well as the past of Hawk from this 616 universe.
Two distinct pasts played out indistinguishably within the same Time Galaxy, finally converging beneath the feet of her and Hawk.
"The universe I am from is me."
"The universe you are in is also me."
"You can think of it as different flowers blooming on a single tree."
"So..."
"This Anya Phoenix is my sister."
Hawk swept his right hand over, revealing the likeness of his sister, Anya, from his universe.
The next second.
Hawk waved his right hand again, and the Time Galaxy revealed the likeness of his sister from the current universe.
"Similarly, this Anya Phoenix is also my sister."
"No difference."
"Wait."
Hawk seemed to think of something, looking at Anya standing beside him, watching the Time Galaxy intently, he laughed, "There is a difference, you look older than the other Anya Phoenix, less baby fat."
Anya's body gave a slight jolt, looking at Hawk.
"Baby fat is something you use to describe kids. I've grown up; I'm five years older than you now, so you're no longer my brother, but my younger brother."
"Ha-ha."
Hawk burst out in laughter, looking at Anya staring unblinkingly at him, and then opened his arms to her, "So, do you now believe I'm your brother?"
Four eyes met.
Anya nodded, then moved closer to Hawk, falling into his embrace, "Yes, brother!"
The surrounding scene shifted, returning to the living room.
Hawk and his sister, Anya, embraced.
They were silent.
Time seemed peaceful.
At this moment.
Anya suddenly moved, quickly looking up from Hawk's embrace, seemingly thinking of something, she looked at him and said, "Wait a minute, you said my sister-in-law was Gwen, shouldn't it be Wanda?"
With his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of sibling reunion, Hawk's eyes snapped open, meeting Anya's gaze that seemed to catch onto something, his mouth twitched, "That's another difference."
In his own universe, Hawk had never thought of dealing with Hydra.
At least, he had never actively sought out Hydra.
But that was also because in his universe, when his sister needed surgery at the age of ten, he got help from a local community faith council member as a member of the church choir.
But in this universe, he didn't get help, so he chose Hydra.
This is what's called a variable!
Similarly.
Wanda here is also another variable.
As for why this variable occurred...
God knows.
As for how to handle this variable...
Once again.
God knows!
So...
Hawk, under the familiar, seemingly puzzled yet slightly excited gaze of his sister Anya, which was akin to seeing his universe's Wanda having three children, rubbed his temples: "We'll deal with future matters in the future."
After saying that.
Hawk turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Anya stood in place, watching her brother's back, couldn't help but blink, then stepped forward to catch up, hugging Hawk's arm.
"When is the future?"
"Trust the wisdom of the future generations."
"What?"
"Future matters will be the headache of future Hawk, it's got nothing to do with present Hawk."
As Hawk was speaking, he opened the fridge to see if there's anything to eat.
Unsure if it's due to traveling through the Multiverse, he actually felt a bit hungry at the moment.
Hawk looked at a piece of pizza inside the fridge and took it out, looking at Anya.
"Can this sandwich still be eaten?"
"Whose sandwich is this, I'm starving."
Similarly, Hawk wasn't the only one feeling hungry.
Driving away from his daughter Cassie's place, Ant-Man Scott also grabbed the sandwich preparation Black Widow Natasha had made for his dinner, took a hearty bite, and filled the emerging hunger.
In the office building, Captain America Steve Rogers listened to Scott talk about quantum physics while holding his arms, watching Scott devour the sandwich: "Scott, what exactly do you want to say?"
Scott struggled to swallow the sandwich in his mouth while looking at Captain America and Black Widow watching him.
"What I wanted to say is, the Quantum Realm is not only a channel connecting the Multiverse, but time also exhibits different manifestations within the Quantum Realm."
"If Hawk can travel through the Quantum Realm to our universe."
"Then theoretically, we can also return to the past through the Quantum Realm, the only problem is we cannot pinpoint the direction, but what if we could."
"What if we can enter the Quantum Realm at this point in time and then exit the Quantum Realm from some point in time?"
"..."
Captain America Steve frowned, extending his right hand: "Wait a minute, are we talking about a time machine?"
Beside him, Natasha captured the keyword that flashed through Scott's speech just now, released her hands, and looked at Scott: "Wait, Scott, who did you just say, Hawk?"
Scott glanced at Captain America then looked at Natasha: "Yes, Hawk, I saw Hawk in the Quantum Realm, but it's not Hawk from our universe, rather it's Hawk from another universe. He came back here with me. No wait, I came back, he came to us."
Captain America listened to Scott's slightly incoherent answer and frowned even more.
"Scott, you've confused me, what Hawk, also, were we discussing a time machine just now?"
"..."
"Friday."
Natasha instinctively turned her head and called out the intelligent system Friday: "Retrieve the monitoring data along Scott Lang's route today."
Compared to Jarvis's male, steady voice, Friday's voice is more feminine and graceful.
After Friday said 'please hold on.'
In an instant.
The surveillance footage of Queens District Annihilation Memorial Park was projected.
In sight.
Standing at 1.85 meters, a strong physique, short blonde hair, hands in pockets, a resilient face, and a calm gaze, Hawk suddenly appeared in the view of several people.
Natasha instinctively covered her mouth.
"Hawk?"
"What?"
Captain America Steve's eyes also fell on the projected Hawk figure, somewhat disbelieving: "That's impossible, Thanos killed Hawk and took his Mind Gemstone."
Don't ask him why he's so sure.
Just ask that he was there when Hawk died.
Captain America watched as Thanos detached Hawk's Mind Gemstone from his forehead.
But now?
Natasha turned her head to look at Scott: "Did you say this Hawk came from the Multiverse?"
Scott nodded: "Yes."
Captain America looked at Natasha's expression.
"Natasha, did something come to mind?"
"Hmm."
Natasha nodded and then looked at Captain America: "Do you recall, when Bruce Banner came back, he talked about the sensation of visiting a Multiverse?"
Captain America frowned.
"Didn't Dr. Bruce Banner say he was dreaming?"
"What if he wasn't dreaming?"
"..."